OLPCorps Muskingum College Lesotho

Introduction

We know OLPCorps Africa isn't accepting applications for 2010 yet, but we've been laying the ground work for our project for several months now and want to start putting it together here.

2010 Draft Project Proposal

This proposal is a work in progress ...

Two U.S. college students, a Mosotho primary school teacher, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer have teamed up to distribute 100 XO laptops to children at Ha Nohana Primary School in Ketane, Lesotho, from June through August 2010. Our goal is to provide the children of Ketane with tools to educate themselves, to expand their learning community, and to become pro-active in their community with the skills to address and resolve local problems.

The computers will be given to children in standards 1-7 (low age), the computers will be owned solely by the children, not the school (individual ownership), and all the children in the school will receive computers (saturation). Ultimately, our long-term goal is to make Ketane the core of a extended program that provides XO laptops to disenfranchised children unable to attend school and then eventually expands to all children throughout the district. We hope that, through strong community organization, after we deploy computers in each community, their portion of the project will become self-sustaining and completely community-run.

Ketane is a very remote, rural community which is accessible by road and small plane. Ha Nohana Primary School is not on an electrical grid, but the area does have wireless access to the internet via cellphone coverage. There is a very small computer school (two Windows-based computers) for adults, started in 2008 by our team member, Andrew Dernovsek. The computer school has a solar power system for charging the computers. Two XO laptops, acquired via the Give One Get One program, were donated to the primary school earlier this year. Enthusiasm by staff and students over these XO computers prompted a request to find a way to get more of the XO computers.

Tsela Mapeshoane, our Project Manager, is a teacher at Ha Nohana Primary School. There is strong support from the school's principal and teachers for this project. The Ketane community also has several well organized groups of dedicated individuals whom we are working with to provide long-term support for our project. Peace Corps/Lesotho staff members have also expressed support and are helping us with the project.

Sesotho and English are the official languages of Lesotho. Two team members are fluent in both, as are the teachers at the primary school. The primary school students study English, but most are not fluent in it, and not all community members speak English. The three members of our team in the U.S. are studying Sesotho but do not expect to be fluent by deployment, so student instruction and community interactions will initially be done in English with the teachers or our team members translating into Sesotho.

Because students will be on break for about half of the deployment period, we will be working outside the normal classroom setting part of the time. We are working with the school staff, students, and parents on scheduling and logistical details.

June through August is winter time in Lesotho, with below freezing temperatures and deep snow possible. We will be providing heaters and fuel for the classrooms to ensure a comfortable learning environment. Because snow may make logistics difficult at times, we are prepared to be flexible in our scheduling.

We will expand the computer school's existing solar power system so it can be used to charge all the XO computers at the primary school. We also hope to raise additional funds to acquire individual solar chargers so children can use the computers on their own after school hours and on holidays. We will build storage and charging cabinets at the primary school and will set up the network server either there or at the computer school. We will acquire the necessary hardware and establish a contract with the cellphone company to provide internet access to the children.

Training ... more to come

Background on Lesotho

Obstacles Children Face

Isolation, poverty, poor nutrition, and an extremely high HIV/AIDS infection rate make life extremely challenging for the children of Ketane. Lesotho has the third highest infection rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. The life expectancy in Lesotho has dropped to just 39 years. The epidemic has had devastating effects on family structure. The current generation of young adults and parents has been decimated so that the vast majority of today's children have lost at least one parent, and many have lost both. Some orphans are raised by grandparents, while others live in homes with a child as the head of the house.

Educational Opportunities

Primary education is free in Lesotho, but because of responsibilities at home, some children are unable to attend. Secondary education is not free, and many students cannot afford it. Given these circumstances, alternative options for learning outside the normal classroom setting are vital in order to educate these disenfranchised children. After we have set up the XO laptop network at Ha Nohana Primary School, we hope we will be able to distribute laptops to children unable to attend school. However, because these children are scattered over a vast area, and because there may be some resistance from family members who fear the laptops will distract the children from their family responsibilities, this will require far more time than we can devote to it in the first year of our project. If we have time in 2010, we will start laying the ground work for this portion of the project by locating some of these children and, where possible, meeting with their families to gauge their receptivity to the idea.

Project Background & Information

Blog

We have started a blog 'OLPC 2010 Lesotho' as a record of our efforts and progress, successes and mistakes, triumphs and failures.

Support

At the local level, the teachers and principal of Ha Nohana are very supportive of our project. Team members Tsela Mapeshoane and Andrew Dernovsek are working in Ketane with community leaders, the local council, existing community groups, parents, and others in the community to build a strong local support system for the project before the computers arrive. And, the entire team will continue to work with these people throughout deployment to insure their continued participation and the long-term investment in the project. Contact with the community will include one-on-one dialogues, small groups meetings, community meetings and presentations, tours of the XO laptop 'facilities,' and observation of training sessions.

One example of the level of support already available locally for innovative projects that help members of the community is that the people of Ketane are in the process of constructing a building which will be donated to house the existing computer school. Another example of acceptance of innovative ideas is the Diamonds of Ketane's (Widows Association) acquisition and use of a large solar oven.

At the national level, we will be seeking support from ministry officials, members of parliment, the president, and the king. We hope to work with the Ministry of Education and other aid organizations to create a digital library of education, language, and health resources in Sesotho that will be accessible to the children on their XO laptops. We will be contacting MOVE about possible assistance with logistics.

At the regional level, we are on the wiki OLPC mailing list for OLPC-za (OLPC South Africa Interest Group) and will be contacting recipients of previous OLPCorps Africa grants in South Africa for advice and possible support.

At the international level, we are already working with the Peace Corps staff in Maseru, Lesotho, on ways Peace Corps can support the project. We also have an existing affiliation with the U.S.-based group, Friends of Lesotho, and hope to get support from that group. We are in the process of setting up a nonprofit organization in the U.S. to raise additional funds to support this project now and into the future. This nonprofit will be applying for grant monies and donated materials from a variety of sources.

Existing Team Members

Sarah and Amy are our two official applicants for this grant.

Sarah Balcomb

Sarah is a senior at the University of Evansville in Indiana, majoring in Elementary Education, and will be graduating in May 2010. She spent one term in her sophomore year studying in England and did short-term volunteer work in Mexico.

Amy Balcomb

Amy is a sophomore at Muskingum College in Ohio, with a double major in Special Education and Psychology and a minor in Music. She has worked extensively with special needs children. She toured Europe in 2007 with SOA.

They are learning Sesotho and studying Lesotho culture in preparation for this project. They will attend the OLPC training in Kigali, Rwanda, and will be running the on-the-ground XO laptop deployment under the supervision of 'Ntate Mapesh.

Tsela "Mapesh" Mapeshoane

Mapesh is a teacher at Ha Nohana Primary School in Ketane. He taught grade/standard 7 for several years and is currently teaching grade/standard 4. He has been learning computer skills from 'Ntate Thabo (Andrew Dernovsek). Mapesh is our Project Manager and is the lead for all local community contacts and organization. We hope to get additional funding to send Mapesh to the OLPC training in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2010 and, possibly in 2011, to send to him training in community organizing and fundraising.

Andrew "Thabo" Dernovsek

Thabo is currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ketane. He set up the computer school for adults there and has been instrumental in getting our project started. He has been mentoring 'Ntate Mapesh in computer skills and community organizing. Thabo has been in Lesotho since 2007 working primarily on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and support. Unfortunately, he will be leaving Lesotho in December 2009, but hopefully he will continue to be available to act as a consultant for our project.

Janissa Balcomb

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho in way back in 1977-80, Janissa taught middle school math, tutored primary school teachers, and later worked as a wildlife biologist at Lesotho's national park. She currently does volunteer work for Friends of Lesotho. She is president of our affiliated nonprofit and will be spearheading the additional fundraising for this project. She is serving as a mentor to Sarah and Amy. Depending on the success of her outside fundraising efforts, she may or may not travel briefly to Lesotho to assist with the initial phase of deployment.

Family/Community Ties and Long-term Sustainability

Sarah and Amy are sisters who get along extraordinarily well, and Janissa is their aunt. We believe that the combination of these close family ties along with Mapesh's roots in the local community and Janissa's long term commitment to Lesotho will add extra cohesiveness and long-term stability to our team. We also believe that a "family" team may garner more support in Lesotho where there is a long tradition of respect for the role of family in the culture.

Future Member(s)

Technical Assistant

We are in the process of trying to find a Mosotho college student who can assist us with the more technical aspects of this project. We especially want someonew who can oversee the set up and installation of all hardware. This person will probably not need to volunteer for the entire duration of deployment.

Peace Corps Volunteer

We also hope that a new Peace Corps volunteer scheduled to arrive in Ketane in January 2010 to work as a Primary Resources Teacher will choose to join our team. However, we want this project ultimately to be entirely community-run and self-sustaining. We do not want to get in the situation where we rely on ex-patriots to take charge and keep the program going, so, we will ask the arriving PCV to take on a background role as mentor and facilitator.

Plans

more to come ...